


Apologies and Luck

by chasingblue57



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M, post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:29:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9321500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasingblue57/pseuds/chasingblue57
Summary: Feeling guilty about Noa's sutures, Mario finds her to apologize. [tag to episode 2x02]





	

Noa’s leaning against the nurse’s station, frowning into a patient chart, when Mario finally has a second to talk to her. Between dealing with his father and helping Elliot with Beth, the last three hours have past in a blur, but the second he sees the neat row of sutures peaking out from beneath her hair, guilt twists its way through his gut, sharp.

“Hey,” he opens, sliding into the space next to her, gaze still sweeping across her injury, assessing how serious it is, how long it’ll probably take to heal, how much worse he needs to feel about the whole thing, “sorry about that.”

She looks up from the chart in her hands, the distracted dent between her brows only deepening as she takes in Mario’s expression. He looks pretty beat up, which doesn’t totally fit with the mostly confident, sometimes kind of cocky guy she’s been working with the last few weeks, but his focus is definitely lingering on her temple and she’s pretty sure she heard him say the older guy was his dad, so it makes sense. “Don’t worry about it,” Noa dismisses immediately, because it really isn’t a big deal and because if her dad was here, the last thing she’d need is to feel bad about some stupid sutures. “I’ve done way worse skating.”

It’s her shrug and her tone, both entirely unconcerned, that leave him smiling more than the comment itself, which feels like a relief given how taxing being around his father has been the last few hours. It’s not like Mario has a lot of love for the man to begin with, but the idea that he’s probably dying is still a lot to take in. “Yeah okay,” he laughs, just a little, “I’ll keep that in mind the next time I let a patient get away and throw you into a cabinet.”

She laughs too and the sound of it, low and warm and surprised, momentarily erases the shittier parts of his night. “Sounds good.”

Noa’s still grinning and it leaves a quirk of a smile pulling at one corner of Mario’s mouth: he hadn’t expected to really care much about the new residents, but he kind of likes them all. Charlotte’s surprisingly plucky, Elliott’s hilariously hapless and Noa doesn’t seem to take any shit, which is why she’s already his favorite of the three. He’s pretty sure she could hold her own in a fight, and that used to be the only thing he bothered looking for in a friend. It’s a lot less important now but it still manages to endear her to him in a way the other two don’t quite manage.

They’re quiet a second, Noa half scanning her chart again and Mario looking to see if there are any patients in need of assistance, and then she’s talking again. “So, that’s your dad?”

She’s not looking at him directly, but Mario can sense her attention shifted his way regardless, curious but not pressing. He shrugs, knows she’ll catch it, and then answers, “Yeah. Kind of a piece of work, but,” he shrugs again and the way Noa nods, he figures she gets it.

“But he’s your dad,” she finishes, her tone that mix of resignation and exhaustion that only reaffirms that she’s got some experience with disappointing (or maybe just disappointed) parents.

“Yeah.” A long breath, and then he sighs, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I need to go check in,” which causes her to look up too, immediately agreeing as she tucks the chart to her side and they head off to different sides of the ER.

“Good luck,” catches him from behind, leaves him smiling a little more widely as he stops in to see how Beth is before dealing with his dad.


End file.
